Church of skulls and children’s mummies: the most terrible places in the world

Church in Sedlec, Czech Republic

The church in Sedlec was built in 1400. Locals believed the land on which the temple was built, a saint, and sought to be buried in the crypt of the cathedral. After epidemics, wars, and floods, the crypt overflowed and in 1870 woodcutter Frantisek Rint was hired. The master whitened 40,000 bones and skulls and decorated them with a cathedral from the floor to the dome: huge chandeliers, the coat of arms of the owner of the church, decoration of the arches – all this is made of bones and makes a terrible impression.

Dongyue Temple in Beijing, China

Dongyu Taoist temple was built in the 14th century, it consists of 376 rooms, most of which are devoted to the theme of hell. Each hall represents one of the hellish offices, where sinners are sorted, judged and tortured under the supervision of judges and demons. Human-sized figures are made of clay and brightly painted, deities are decorated with flowers, and the tortures of sinners are shown with anatomical details.

Winchester House in California, USA

This house was built by the widow of William Winchester, the son of the inventor of the famous rifle. The widow was a superstitious woman, and a certain medium informed her that the spirits of those killed with Winchester rifles were haunting her. To get rid of the curse you need to build a huge house where the spirits will not find Sarah. The construction of a six-story house with 160 rooms, 2,000 doors, hundreds of dead ends and secret passages has been going on for 38 years. The widow died at the age of 85, and after her death, according to eyewitnesses, paranormal phenomena occur in the house: ghosts appeared, shouts rang out and doors slammed.

Voodoo Market in Lome, Togo

The voodoo market is located on the outskirts of Lome, the capital of the Republic of Togo, whose residents have been actively practicing voodoo since the 17th century. The market in Lomé is selling everything for voodoo rituals: monkey and crocodile heads, voodoo dolls, fresh animal organs, and snake blood. For a special fee, suppliers can get human organs and bones bypassing the law. Nearby live sorcerers who are ready to curse the enemy, impose damage or to prepare the drug from the terrible ingredients purchased on the market.

Death Valley, Kamchatka, Russia

On the territory of the Kronotsky reserve, at the foot of the Kikhpinich volcano, there is the Death Valley – a plot of two kilometers where animals and birds constantly die, and in the 20th century, several people died there. Studies have shown that death occurs due to concentrated underground gases coming to the surface; gases cause paralysis and respiratory arrest.

Mummy Museum in Guanajuato, Mexico

In the 19th century in Mexico introduced the annual tax on the burial. If the relatives could not pay, the body was dug out. When the first batch of debtors was exhumed, everyone was amazed at the perfect preservation of the bodies, which is explained by the special chemical composition of the soil, which contributes to mummification. The museum’s collection consists of 111 mummies, including mummies of drowned people, children, and pregnant women, excavated during the tax period.